The letter never arrived but the clock ran: DigiD, MijnOverheid and the Berichtenbox
Published: September 21, 2026 · 5 min read · The Letrin team
Dutch words in this post
Hover over an underlined word in the text (tap it on a phone) and see what it means straight away.
| Word | Meaning |
|---|---|
| DigiD | government digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites |
| MijnOverheid | your government account |
| Berichtenbox | official message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD |
| Mijn Belastingdienst | your tax office account |
| Mijn Toeslagen | your allowances account |
| dagtekening | the date printed on the letter · the day the clock starts; in a digital message it is this date too |
| bezwaartermijn | objection period |
| machtigen | authorising someone · allowing another person to act for you with their own DigiD |
| DigiD machtigen | the DigiD authorisation system |
| BRP | population register · Basisregistratie Personen; official post is sent to the address held there |
| Basisregistratie Personen | the register of persons and addresses |
| termijn | period, deadline |
"Nothing ever reached me" is not enough to save an objection in the Netherlands. Some public bodies do not send the letter on paper at all, they leave it in the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD, and the objection period runs from the date printed on the decision, not from the day you opened the message. Leaving the box unopened for months does not stop the clock.
This post is about which letter lands where, and how to set the box up once so you stop missing them.
There are three boxes, and they are not the same place
| Where | What is in it | How you get in |
|---|---|---|
| MijnOverheidyour government account, Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD | Digital letters from bodies such as the municipality, UWV, SVB, Kadaster, RDW and the Belastingdienst | DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites |
| Mijn Belastingdienstyour tax office account | Your return, the voorlopige aanslag, the definitieve aanslag, your debt position | DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites |
| Mijn Toeslagenyour allowances account | Huurtoeslag, zorgtoeslag and kinderopvangtoeslag decisions and reclaims | DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites |
Seeing a body's digital letter in the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD does not mean there is nothing else waiting in that body's own portal. The detail of a toeslag decision can sit in Mijn Toeslagenyour allowances account while the notice of the same decision sits in the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD.
And then there is paper: not every body is connected to the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD, and even if you chose digital, some of them send the same letter on paper and digitally.
Stopping paper post is a choice
Digital post is not compulsory. If you never expressed a preference, paper keeps coming.
You choose yourself which bodies may send you digital post: inside MijnOverheidyour government account, under Instellingen and then Organisaties Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD, they are ticked one by one. Once you put a body on digital, its paper letters stop as a rule.
The real risk here is making that switch in one direction only: you opened the box, ticked the bodies, and then did not open the box for months. Since paper no longer arrives, nothing warns you.
The one setting to do first: email alerts
The Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD can email you when a new message arrives, and it sends reminders about unread post as well. This setting is not on by default.
Three things to set:
- Enter your email address and confirm it. An unconfirmed address gets no alerts.
- Pick the address you actually use. An address opened years ago and never checked is the same as a closed box.
- Install the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD app. Then it arrives as a notification on your phone. The app needs the DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites app on the same device; you open the box with the DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites app's PIN.
Messages do not stay forever
The Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD is not an archive. Retention periods vary by type of message, between 18 months at the shortest and 5 years at the longest; the periods are set in article 13 of the Besluit digitale overheid.
The practical consequence: documents you will be asked for later, in a residence, credit, rent or allowance application, will not be waiting in the box. Download the PDF of important decisions and keep them in your own archive. Losing a decision letter does not mean the decision was never taken, but it makes finding the date and the reference number harder when you write an objection.
When does the clock start?
As on paper, the digital clock runs from the dagtekeningthe date printed on the letter · the day the clock starts; in a digital message it is this date too on the decision. The objection period is 6 weeks for most decisions, 4 weeks for IND decisions, and shorter for some municipal ones.
Opening the message late does not extend the period. Once it has passed, the only route is showing that the delay was caused by something outside your control (verschoonbare termijnoverschrijding), and the bar is high: not having opened the box does not on its own meet it.
Which is why opening the box once a week is the most useful habit there is after the settings are done.
Looking at someone else's post: DigiD machtigenthe DigiD authorisation system
Acting for a parent, a spouse or an adult child is a common need, and there is an official way to do it: DigiD machtigenthe DigiD authorisation system. The person authorises you, and you handle their business with your own DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites.
Handing your own DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites to someone else does not replace this and goes against the DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites rules: a DigiDgovernment digital identity · the username, password and app used to log in to official sites is personal and is not lent out. Alerts collected in one shared email address create the same problem, because it stops being clear whose message is whose.
When a child turns 18, their letters land in their own box. That is the moment when families most often miss toeslag and DUO letters.
If you are leaving the country
Paper post goes to the address in the BRPpopulation register · Basisregistratie Personen; official post is sent to the address held there. If you leave the Netherlands without updating that registration, the letters go nowhere while the deadlines keep running.
The Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD has the advantage here: the box is tied to the person and not to the address, and it opens from abroad. If you are moving away, the order is fixed: correct the BRPpopulation register · Basisregistratie Personen; official post is sent to the address held there registration first, then update the alert address, then put the bodies on digital.
What does Letrin do with these letters?
Letters from the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD speak exactly the same language as letters on paper: the same standard phrases, the same deadlines, the same body names. Give Letrin a screenshot of the PDF on your screen and the app does the same job: which body it is from, what it says, which amount, which date is the last day.
If an answer has to be written, it drafts it in formal Dutch with the translation beside it. It sets reminders for the deadlines: 7 days before, 2 days before, and on the morning itself. The text in the photo is read on the phone; the letter is not sent to a server.
The button below is all you need to download the app: no account, and the first explanations are free.
Check it against the paper
Explanations are there to help and they are not legal advice. Which bodies are connected to the Berichtenboxofficial message box · where public bodies leave their digital letters; opened with DigiD changes over time; the current list is on the settings page at mijn.overheid.nl.
If you have missed a deadline, Juridisch Loket and the municipality's sociaal raadslieden are free.